[9] Hartley was founder of the Cragg Coiners and lived as a rogue in the Calderdale area until he was hanged at Knavesmire (Tyburn) near York in 1770.
[7] The foundation stone of its octagonal Methodist chapel, the oldest still in continued use,[10] was laid following the visit of John Wesley in 1764.
At the same time the existing concrete street lights were replaced with late 19th-century cast-iron gas-style electric lamps.
Adjacent to Heptonstall lie the National Trust woodlands of Hardcastle Crags with walking paths and a restored 19th-century mill.
[13] Half a mile out of the village is Lumb Bank, the second of the Arvon Foundation's residential centres for writers.
[14] Each year on Good Friday there are performances of the Heptonstall version of the traditional Pace Egg play.
[20] Another poet buried here is the American expatriate Asa Benveniste, a co-founder in London of the publisher Trigram Press.
[24] John Wesley laid the foundation stone of the octagonal chapel situated off Northgate, which was completed in 1764 – he recommended the shape to avoid conflict with the established church.
"[27] The ruin of St Thomas a Becket church featured as a location in the 1993 BBC Television drama series Mr. Wroe's Virgins[28] directed by Danny Boyle.
[29] The village was the main location used in the BBC Three situation comedy The Gemma Factor, with the local tearoom being used for a major part of the show.
Heptonstall is also featured in the 2010 short film Trailing Dirt, directed by Richard Cousins and written by Alison Flack.
[31] The 2014 BBC drama Happy Valley was partly filmed in Heptonstall, and featured Sylvia Plath's grave.
The BBC drama The Gallows Pole was partly filmed in Heptonstall, an adaptation of a book by Benjamin Myers.